Rome, Italy
14 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Europe, Italy Tags: Colosseum, Palatino Hills, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Rome, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Vatican City
Rome is fascinating – especially for the history-lover. There are so many historic sites to see. I spent two days there, and was only able to see the well-known tourist sites, such as the Colosseum and the Vatican City. I wanted to do some exploring of non-tourist sites, but didn’t have enough time.
My journey to Rome started with an evening train from Geneva to Milan. When I got to Milan, I switched to an overnight train to Rome. The overnight train went smoothly – I had a bed and a place to wash my face, etc… I had an interesting roommate who was Italian. We could barely communicate, because she did not speak English or French and I did not speak Italian. It seemed like it was her first time traveling because she couldn’t figure out where the toilet was and once she found it, she couldn’t figure out how to get in. She had me try to figure it out, so I tried to get her to talk to a conductor but it didn’t work.
Day 1 – Friday
I arrived in Rome around 7:30AM. I took the metro to my hostel, which is located in the train terminal. I was not impressed with the metro because there was only two lines and there were a ton of people. Fortunately, I only had a small duffel bag with me. It would have been torturous if I had a bigger luggage. The hostel that I stayed at, Colors Hostel, is located near the Vatican City so I took the red line. I had received information from the hostel for how to get from the metro stop to the hostel but I still got lost. Not surprising. The directions were confusing, the street signs were placed on top of buildings, and the hostel’s sign was taped inside the doors. After 30 minutes or so, I eventually found the hostel. Because it was too early for me to check in, I had breakfast and dropped off my bags, and headed straight to the Vatican City.
I got a map from the hostel, but it was not easy to use. Besides the street signs, some streets turned into other streets, and some streets were not on the map. When I got to the main streets, I saw crowds of people and followed them. I eventually found my way to St. Peter’s Basilica, though I didn’t know it at that time. There were lines, but it moved pretty quickly so it wasn’t a long wait. The basilica was beautiful, but there wasn’t much to see. I spent about 20 minutes there.
Afterwards, I headed to the Vatican Museum, but being me, I got lost for about 30 minutes before I found it. There was a long line, but it was not bad because it moved pretty quickly. The only word that I can use to describe the museum is – BIG. I was not expecting it to be that big, so I was unprepared for it. Once I got in, I started exploring the different galleries (there were a lot). Like always, the paintings and statues were interesting. But after a while, it got to be redundant, especially since I had no idea what I was looking at. While there were a lot of people, it wasn’t bad to the point where you could not move around. However, in some areas it was hard to see some things because there were a lot of tour groups. After spending over 2 hours there, I got tired and tried to get out, but couldn’t find an exit.
By the time I got out of the museum, I was starving so I stopped by a nearby restaurant to eat. I try as much as possible to avoid eating out because it’s really awkward to eat by oneself in a tourist area. I think it’s because people stare at you because they probably think it’s unnatural to eat by oneself. Anyways, I was not impressed with the food. I ordered a mushroom and sausage pizza, but it was not that good. I started feeling sick afterwards; it probably wasn’t cooked thoroughly. Because of that experience I was hesitant to eat pizza for the duration of my trip.
After eating, I returned to the hostel so that I could check-in. There, I met my roommates. Two were American girls and the other was from the UK. Vanisha, the girl from the UK, and I went to dinner together and bonded over our Africa experience. I was glad I met someone who I could hangout with. I love to travel by myself, but the one thing I hate is eating by myself. People tend to stare when you’re eating by yourself. I have yet to get over this aspect of traveling by myself.
Day 2 – Saturday
After my experience at the Vatican museum (not knowing what I was looking at), I decided that I would do a group tour for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatino Hills. I decided that instead of trying to take a bus, I would walk to the meeting destination – Piazza Navona. I thought it would be a breeze since it wasn’t far, and I had a sense of where I was going. I was wrong. I had no idea where I was going. I started off going in the right direction, but made several wrong turns; I ended up in the opposite direction of where I was going. It also didn’t help that I started out late. I decided to visit the sites by myself, because I missed the tour. It was probably a good idea because I spent more than 3 hours visiting the sites. [The tour was only three hours for the Colosseum, Palatino Hills and Roman Forum.]
I took the metro to the Colosseum stop. As soon as I got off, this is what I saw:
I was speechless. I never thought that it would be right there. It was astounding. After taking numerous pictures, I got in line to enter the Colosseum. The interior of the Colosseum was as impressive as the exterior. It was amazing to see how a stadium built during the Roman era could last for so long. The museum did a good job of providing information about the history and the use of the Colosseum that it one did not need a tour guide. I was motivated, after my visit, to watch a few movies about that time period.
After the Colosseum, I headed towards Palatino Hills and the Roman Forum. I, of course, got lost; the signs were really confusing. It wasn’t only me; other people got lost as well. Anyways, I met up with Vanisha and we visited those two sites together. Again, like the Colosseum, I was impressed that the structures could last so long. It couldn’t help by wonder what it was like that during that time period. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the Roman era was not good; so my imagination was not that impressive. Anyways, the Roman Forum and Palatino Hills were together , so it was not difficult to explore the two sites. I did, however, get really tired, because it was huge; it was nonstop walking and exploring the various buildings. When we got to the top we were able to get a good view of the Colosseum and Rome. We would have continue exploring since we didn’t get to see everything but they kicked us out because it closed at 6 PM.
When we headed back to the hostel, we decided to stop for food. I think it was the best meal that I had in Rome. I got Spaghetti Amatriciana and tiramisu for dessert. Vanisha, on the other hand, got “sea food pasta wrapped in a silver bird”; the silver bird was tin foil in the shape of a peacock I think? According to her, the dish was pretty good.
Day 3 – Sunday
I really wanted to see the other sites – Pantheon, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, so I decided that I would visit them on Sunday morning before my trip back to Geneva. I thought it was a good idea, because there probably wouldn’t be a lot of tourists since it was early. I decided to walk again, but this time I was fully prepared. I started out early and read my map carefully; but I still got lost. The good thing was that I was able to get to the side where the sites were. However, when I got to that side, I couldn’t figure out where to go. Luckily, I stumbled on to Piazza Navona (where I was supposed to have met the tour group on Saturday). From there, I was able to follow signs and make my way to the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Again, like the other sites I was impress how the Pantheon lasted for such a long time. The inside was beautiful, but since I didn’t have much knowledge of the history I don’t think I was able to appreciate it. Afterwards, I headed to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain; both were by each other. There wasn’t much to see since it was just stairs and a fountain. Apparently, the Spanish Steps is a good place to take pictures and to propose to someone. The Trevi Fountain is very pretty; the statues are a sight to see.
{Piazza Navona}
{Pantheon}
{Trevi Fountain}
{Spanish Steps}
I left Rome about an hour or so afterwards. It was a long trip home. I was not able to get a ticket straight to Milano to take a train to Geneva. Instead, I had to take a train to Padova, then to Milano, then to Geneva. I almost missed my train to Padova, because it was not the last stop and I forgot to check the train number along with the final destination. Fortunately, I did not miss it. However, on my train from Milano to Geneva, we had to switch train at one of the stops along the way back to Geneva, because there was a fire in one of the tunnel. I did not realize this at the time. I also was not paying attention to what the conductors were saying, so I almost missed the train. We had to switch train again later, so I didn’t get back to Geneva until 1 in the morning; I was suppose to get back by 8 PM or so.
Thoughts
Overall, I think it was a successful trip. I saw the major sites within 3 days; it’s very impressive if you ask me. My goal was to see the sites, and I did exactly that. I don’t know if I would do it differently, except spend more time there. I think it would have been nice to take time to appreciate the sites. However, I don’t know if that would have made the trip more enjoyable. I love seeing the sites, but I don’t think I need five days to see them. The thing that I would change is to travel during the low season instead of the high season. There were too many tourists, so it was impossible to take pictures without tourists in them. In addition, as much as I liked the hostel, I would try to find one closer to the major sites. Otherwise, Rome was good.
